Stomach Pain and Low Blood Sugar

Type 1 and LADA Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes
#1

For about the past week or so, my 5 y/o daughter has been complaining of stomach pain, predominately in the morning, but also at other times of the day. She goes to preschool and always seems to be fine there. I've tried to notice a pattern, whether it happens when she's high or low, but it seems random.

But a weird thing has been happening recently. She has become very sensitive to insulin. As in going low after watermelon, cheetos, pizza, and cake (preschool graduation party - yes a diabetic nightmare but a special occasion, so I let her splurge). 2 hours later her BG was 38, and I don't believe I overbolused her. 45 minutes after a 20-carb juice box she was only up to 70.

This morning her BG was 87, so I bolused her for breakfast (healthy homemade pancake and fresh berry smoothie)and 1.5 hours later her BG was 49 (and she normally has a huge spike after breakfast). An hour after a juice box, still 49. Then she had 3 rolls of Smarties (18 cbs) and her BG never even reached 100. She had a granola bar for a snack at 1:30 and grilled cheese sandwich and DumDum lollipop for a late lunch. As an experiment, I didn't bolus her. 5 hrs later she was up to 212, but normally, without a bolus, she would have been high 300s after an hour or two.

Another interesting finding: her 90-day BG average is 182 (pretty typical - her last A1C was 7.5) but her 7-day average is only 128. Normally I'd rejoice over that, but it seems something is going on.

I have no idea if this might be related to her stomach pains. Has anyone else's child experienced this? Despite her complaints, her appetite and activity level is still normal, she's eating well, and her stools look normal, too. I'm totally perplexed. I'm going to call her endo on Monday and also a pediatric gastro.

Thanks for bearing with me. I just wondered if anyone could shed some light on this...

#2

My son is 15. T1D since 12. He has been complaining of stomach pains in the mornings since he was diagnosed. His endo says it’s not related to his diabetes but you can look on any T1D blog and find many parents that say their child has the same complaint- morning stomach aches. His pediatrician gave me an Rx for an antacid and that does seem to help a little. As far as your daughter’s lows, the only thing I can say is there isn’t any rhyme or reason to this disease. Every once in a while we have to readjust all of my son’s dosages because of inexplicable lows or highs. Growth hormone in kids makes it difficult sometimes to keep them regulated. If my son is going through a growth spurt we have to increase all of his dosages and then when that spurt is over, he will have tons of lows and then we have to lower them again. I don’t know if that’s what is going on with your little one, but I’d bet the lows have something to do with growth hormone levels. Hope this helps! Thinking of you…

#3

We too have had a child with days and weeks of stomach pains in the morning. Then it disappears for a long spell. We tried to correlate it with BG but were not very successful. There is another stomach pain that happens with high BG and ketones, but this is different. We put the morning pains down to some hidden anxiety or minor gastrointestinal upset. Your low BG could mean carbs are passing through without being digested, due to some intestinal flora change, but then one would expect some stool change. Maybe try probiotics anyway (eg. Yogurt or kefir).

#4

Not “intentional” but “intestinal” in previous post.

#5

My son is 12. T1D since last Sept. He too has random stomach pains and usually in the morning. I cannot figure it out either. Kept a food log, watching bowels, tested for glueten issues and still cannot find a pattern. Pepto seems to help. We keep some in his d-bag. Edno also told me not related to his diabetes but now after reading this and others I am wonderng.
Rich - good idea on the Probotics. My son has actually been eating greek yogurt a lot lately and has not had an stomach issue recently. I think you might be on to something.
Aimeeh - thinking of you and if you find anything out - please share.

#6

Thank you all for your replies. She has actually complained in the past about stomach pains, but more so recently and with the low BG/insulin sensitivity I wondered if there was a correlation.

We've tried to think of what it could be in the morning - has she gone #2 yet? Is she dehydrated? She probably needs to drink more water throughout the day, but I don't want her drinking much before she goes to bed, b/c she still wears a pull-up and wets it most nights.

Rich, I too wondered about the carbs not being digested. A google search came up with any number of possible gastro conditions. And I forgot to mention that her annual bloodwork 2 months ago was negative for Celiac. I like the suggestion for a probiotic. She actually had perianal strep a few months ago and the ped suggested a probiotic, but she hated the ones I bought (Culturelle for kids). I ordered another kind on Amazon through their Subscribe and Save, but it was cancelled for some reason, and then I forgot about pursuing it again.

MDMom, thanks also for the Pepto suggestion. I'm sure my daughter would love it b/c it's pink! As long as it's the cherry tasting one. And Cass, you are so right about this disease - no rhyme or reason!! Just when you think you've got it figured out, diabetes will throw you for a loop!

#7

If the probiotics aren't effective, I'd have her re-checked for Celiac in a few months.